A temporary power outage left lights flickering in parts of New York City late Thursday night, authorities said, followed by an explosion and billowing smoke at a substation in Brooklyn, witnesses said.
Con Edison, the electric, gas and steam utility that serves New York City and Westchester County, said there was “a disturbance on a high-voltage power line” at its Brooklyn substation at 11:55 p.m
“Customers may have experienced a decrease or increase in performance at this time,” Con Edison said in a statement early Friday. “Emergency crews are investigating and working to make the necessary repairs.”
The New York City Fire Department said firefighters responded to power outages and stalled elevators at locations across the city early Friday.
“We do not have a single address to narrow it down to,” the fire department said in a statement, adding that it was taking “reports and calls at various locations.”
All elevators and escalators at Grand Central Station were out of service, according to a opinion from the Long Island Rail Road, the rail system that stretches from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island.
Witnesses facing the substation described seeing the lights in their homes flash twice quickly, followed by the explosion in the substation. People shared their accounts of the outage and explosion on social media.
“The lights flickered briefly twice,” Sean Scott, 30, a software engineer who was at home in Manhattan, said by phone. “I looked outside and saw some street lights flickering.”
“Then I felt a soft boom and saw a fireball and I saw the smoke,” added Mr. Scott, who said he had a view of most of Brooklyn from his apartment.
Anna Di, 32, a chiropractor in Manhattan, described the explosion as an “orange glow” that disappeared within seconds, leaving gray smoke rising from the substation.
“It was just shocking to see that fireball over the water,” she said by phone.